


That's the Spirit!

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [75]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Ghost Hunters, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Simon asks his boyfriend's brother to go ghost hunting with him for his youtube show after Clary ends up getting sick the day of the investigation. Cue non-believer Alec Lightwood and believer Simon Lewis going to an abandoned hospital to look for ghosts.
Relationships: Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood, background jimon - Relationship
Series: Tumblr Prompts [75]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1034831
Comments: 41
Kudos: 131





	That's the Spirit!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skylar102](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar102/gifts).



> Tumblr Prompt: Simon asks his boyfriend's brother to go ghost hunting with him for his youtube show after Clary ends up getting sick the day of the investigation. Cue non-believer Alec Lightwood and believer Simon Lewis going to an abandoned hospital to look for ghosts.
> 
> A/N - A good chunk of this is shamelessly based on the Waverly Hills Sanatorium episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural because it has some of the best moments/reactions for this dynamic ;)

Simon can’t believe it. “What am I doing to do?” He sighs, collapsing dramatically onto the sofa in Jace’s apartment. Jace lives with his brother, Alec, who is also home but pointedly ignoring Simon’s presence the way he usually does when Simon shows up, which is pretty often these days.

“Of all the days to get sick… and I know it isn’t her fault. Obviously, Clary doesn’t _want_ to have the flu, but it took me _ages_ to get the permit to go to this site. It was going to be my biggest episode yet, I know it!”

“Can’t you just do it alone?” Jace asks. “Or reschedule?”

Simon only shakes his head and sighs again, much more dramatically this time, as if the situation becomes more tragic by the second. “No, and no. There has to be a _dynamic_ , a back-and-forth to the investigation. No one wants to just watch me wander around the dark and ramble for an hour,” Simon points out.

“He’s got a point there,” Alec chimes in, and Simon frowns.

“Harsh,” Simon says, but Alec doesn’t look particularly apologetic. “Plus, you don’t just show up to abandoned buildings _alone at night_ , Jace. That’s how you get yourself killed.”

“Then you could be a ghost on someone else’s show,” Alec suggests.

Simon ignores him and continues. “Anyway, the construction on the building is set to start tomorrow night. This is the _last chance_ to go. For anyone. Forever.”

Simon could cry if he weren’t sitting in Jace’s living room. Okay, maybe he has cried in Jace’s living room before, but for now, it’s enough of a deterrent to pretend to hold himself together.

“Sorry, Si,” Jace says. “If I could find someone to cover last-minute for me I’d do it, but…” he shrugs helplessly. Jace is a bartender, so weekend nights are too busy to bail on without notice.

“I know you would,” Simon reassures him, but the frown never leaves his face. There has to be something he can do, _someone_ he can ask… Simon’s eyes drift to Alec, but he says nothing. Alec _hates_ him. Alec hates everyone other than his siblings and Magnus, to be fair, but he especially doesn’t like Simon. There’s no way he can ask him.

Jace follows Simon’s gaze and gets a devious glint in his eyes.

“If only,” Jace says, looking very pointedly at Alec. “There was someone here, who didn’t have work tonight, or any assignments due tomorrow because it’s the weekend, and a boyfriend who is out of town so he definitely doesn’t have a date lined up, and no social life to speak of so he wouldn’t have any plans he’d have to cancel, and-”

It takes Alec an embarrassingly long time to pick up on the fact that Jace is speaking not only to him but _about_ him.

“No,” Alec says, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Jace asks.

“Because it’s stupid. There’s no such thing as ghosts, and the whole thing is a waste of time,” Alec says.

“That’d be the perfect dynamic for the video! The grumpy skeptic and the excitable believer!” Simon points out. “I’ll even let you poke fun at it on camera if you want.”

“No,” Alec repeats.

“...not even if I take dish duty for the next week?” Jace offers. They split the chores in the apartment evenly and rotate, but Simon knows how much Alec complains because Jace makes 90% of the dishes with his shakes and smoothies.

Alec raises an eyebrow. “How about the next month?”

“Two and a half weeks,” Jace counters.

Alec looks at Simon, then back at Jace, and closes his book with a sigh. “Deal.”

\---

“I can’t believe I let you two talk me into this,” Alec mutters, taking the gear Simon hands him.

“You won’t regret it,” Simon swears, beaming. “And seriously, I owe you one. Or two. Or twenty. I’ve been looking forward to this night for months, seriously, this means so-”

“Save the rambling for the camera,” Alec says, and Simon clamps his mouth shut.

The building they have access to is an abandoned hospital that has a ridiculously high amount of recorded paranormal encounters. The owner greets them a few hours before sunset to let them in and show them around, and Simon pulls out his camera to record some of the history the woman gives them.

“She’s not a ghost,” Alec says as if this is something Simon might not know. “Why are you recording her?”

“Because the people watching later will want to know some of the history,” Simon starts to explain, then frowns. “Have you _never_ watched any of my videos?”

Alec shrugs. “I have to watch you get overexcited about things all the time in person. Why would I watch it online in my free time?”

Simon opens his mouth to say something but shuts it again, reminding himself that he needs Alec to at least humor him tonight, and he might not do that if Simon picks a fight.

“Right,” Simon says instead. “So it goes like this: we get some backstory from Ms. Loss, then we set up some equipment, we explore floor by floor the rest of the night until we go to sleep in room 502.”

Simon expects Alec to argue at least one part of that, but he just shrugs noncommittally. “Sure.”

“Anyway, Ms. Loss. Can you tell me more about the nurse people report seeing on the second floor...:”

\---

“Okay,” Simon starts. “So I’m going to put the camera there, and we’re going to record a little opening bit. You don’t have to say anything.”

“Perfect,” Alec says. “I like this already.”

Simon clears his throat and looks into the camera. “This week, we’re exploring The Institute as part of my ongoing investigation to answer the question: are ghosts real?”

Simon sees movement from Alec and looks over to catch Alec mouthing the word ‘No’ exaggeratedly at the camera while shaking his head.

Simon sighs, wondering if he might not have been better off just going alone after all. By some small miracle, he manages to record the rest of the opening without distraction.

By the time they have the motion sensors set up with cameras on them and a few voice recorders placed around the rooms with the most reported activity, the sun is nearly set. Usually, Clary helps Simon with positioning the equipment, but since Alec doesn’t know what to do with any of it the process took a bit longer than expected.

“Ready?” Simon asks, taking a deep breath as he shuts the door to the van and turns to face the building.

“As I’ll ever be,” Alec confirms, following Simon inside.

“Alright. Tonight we’re inside The Institute for what will be the building’s final night before demolition begins tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but if I knew my home was about to be destroyed, I’d probably be pretty upset. Are there any spirits here who have anything to say about the construction?”

There’s a few seconds of silence, broken almost immediately by Alec.

“How long do we stand here listening to nothing?” Alec asks.

Simon sighs. “You don’t know if it’s nothing until we play the tapes back! You can’t always hear it in person. But generally speaking more than 2 seconds.”

Alec winces. “Sorry.”

“No, you know what, this is good. To any spirits who might be here, I’m Simon, and this is Alec. Alec doesn’t believe you exist, so any proof you can give us tonight to show him he’s wrong would be _great_. We have a few motion sensors you can set off, cameras you can manifest in front of, or you can make a noise, or touch us-” “Touch us?” Alec repeats.

“What? If you don’t believe in ghosts then nothing actually exists to touch you, right?” Simon says. He can’t help the hint of a challenge behind his words.

Alec clears his throat. “Right. I don’t, so whatever. Yeah, come at me, ghosts! Touch away!”

Simon hadn’t expected him to go _that far_ with it. “Alright, tone it down Rocky, we don’t want to upset them.”

“But I thought you wanted-” “There has to be a _balance_. Encouraging, not antagonizing,” Simon clarifies.

“I didn’t realize there’d be so many rules,” Alec says, rolling his eyes. Simon can’t see the motion in the dark, but he can practically feel it.

“Don’t worry. You’ll learn,” Simon says, meaning to sound encouraging. “You’ll be a pro at this in no time.”

“I’d rather not,” Alec mumbles as they set off again.

They make it out of the main entryway and into the first hallway before Simon slows. His whole body is tense as he swings his light around to catch graffiti warning people away, dark corridors lined with cobwebs, and what looks like a noose hanging from a rafter in a bit of exposed ceiling.

“Fuck,” Simon says, and even that single word held a significant tremor.

“It looks like something out of The Conjuring,” Alec points out.

“I don’t like this at all,” Simon says. “I have a terrible feeling looking at this.”

Alec hums. “I have bad news for you then,” he says. “Because I’m pretty sure literally every part of the building is going to look like this.”

Simon watches a goddamn _smirk_ tug at Alec’s lips. How is he so calm about this? How is he not even the least bit on edge?! Simon was counting on Alec getting at least a little freaked out once they were here so he could swoop in and be The Professional with all sorts of ‘it’s fine, I do this all the time’ and ‘this is business as usual, buddy’ comments to make himself look cool.

Instead, Alec looks worried, but not for himself - he looks worried for Simon.

“You okay over there?” Alec asks, as a gust of wind from outside makes something creak above them and sends Simon half a foot into the air in surprise.

“I’m fine,” Simon manages. “ _I’m_ the professional,” he mumbles to himself, starting off down the first dark hallway.

\---

“So,” Simon says, regaining his composure enough to narrate for the camera again. “We’re inside a building adjacent to the main hospital where the ‘Body Chute’ is-”

“Sounds fun,” Alec mutters, not entirely under his breath.

“-which is a 500-foot long tunnel they used to dispose of the bodies where the other patients wouldn’t see.”

“I’m so glad we have a tuberculosis vaccine now,” Alec says, just as they get to a gated door that Simon pushes open and-

“Oh my god, this is awful,” Simon says the moment his light goes down the very long, very dark, very _horrifying_ looking hallway.

“Now _this_ looks like a nightmare,” Alec admits.

“No, no, no, no. No way...” Simon says but stops when Alec has the audacity to _chuckle_ from behind him at Simon’s reaction.

“I don’t think I realized how long 500 feet is,” Alec says conversationally, stepping ahead of Simon to go down the tunnel. Simon knows going to the end of the tunnel is the plan - it’s where they brought _every_ dead body, if there are spirits anywhere there are spirits at the end of this tunnel, but… man, he does _not_ want to go down there.

It feels like they walk forever, eventually hitting stairs that go down even further until they reach a spot blocked off by some kind of hanging plastic sheet. Simon, in an effort to both save face and also regain control, peels back the corner only to scream like a small child and run backward when a ‘whoosh’ noise passes him.

“Was that wind?” Alec asks.

“I don’t know,” Simon says. “But I’m not doing that again.”

“Hey, I have an idea,” Alec says suddenly. “How about you stay down here, and I’ll go to the top of the stairs, and we can shut our lights off and sit in the dark and see if we get anything from either end of this death chute?”

“...how about you go fuck yourself,” Simon replies, a knee-jerk reaction he knows he’ll have to edit out later. “But that’s actually not a terrible idea,” he admits very, very grudgingly. Alec wastes no time going back the way they came, and once he’s in place they shut off both sets of flashlights.

“I’m going to die here,” Simon laments to his camera in the dark, his voice echoing up to Alec who laughs again.

“Don’t worry, Jace would kill me if I let you die here,” Alec reassures him. “Now shut up.”

“You shut up,” Simon mumbles, but to himself this time. If it’s loud enough for Alec to pick up he doesn’t say anything back.

Simon holds his breath in the dark, listening for any sign that something might be down here with him when he hears Alec’s voice sound from the top of the stairs.

“Did you hear that?” Alec asks. Simon shouldn’t be as pleased as he is to hear an edge to the question, turning his light back on and taking the excuse to get the hell out of there and back up to where Alec is.

“No,” Simon admits. “What was it?”

Alec shrugs. “I dunno, just a… weird noise. Probably nothing, but I guess we’ll hear it on the tapes if it wasn’t.”

“That’s the spirit!” Simon says, thrilled to see Alec catching on to the routine. Then he pauses, and laughs. “Hah. That’s the _spirit_. Get it?”

Alec definitely gets it, but he doesn’t look particularly happy about it.

They head back up to the morgue. As one of the more active areas, Simon has pretty high hopes for it.

“Feel anything strange? Anything unsettling?” Simon asks Alec, turning the camera on him.

Alec looks around the room, tapping on an autopsy drawer and doing a full 360-degree turn. “I feel kinda cold? That’s a ghost thing, right? But it’s also just… cold in here in general, isn’t it? It isn’t like there’s heat, it’s pretty drafty.”

“How about you lay on the autopsy table?” Simon suggests.

Alec looks at it dubiously but agrees, shifting his gear in his hands so he can carefully lay on the metal table, his legs too long and dangling over the edge.

“If there’s anything in here, maybe someone who once laid where Alec is right now, can you talk to us? Tell us your name?” Simon asks into the room, then waits.

Alec moves his feet back and forth over the edge.

“Isn’t this the part in the horror movie where the demon reaches out from under me and grabs my foot? Anything out there want to grab my foot?” Alec asks, and Simon has to give him credit for at least trying with what little, clichéd knowledge he has.

“There aren’t _demons_ here,” Simon tells him. “I don’t mess with demons.”

Alec swings his legs over the side of the table and gets down again.

“Pity. Now _demon_ hunting is something I could get behind,” Alec says.

Simon furrows his brows and doesn’t bother hiding his exasperation as he says, “What is _wrong_ with you?”

\---

“Alright, so here is the elevator shaft where a homeless man and his dog reportedly fell down, or were pushed down, and died,” Simon explains as they get to the next active area. “People say they’ve seen both the man and the dog, separately, on multiple occasions.”

They reach the door to the elevator shaft which has a square hole where a window would probably be but isn’t anymore. Simon holds his voice recorder up to the window.

“If there’s an older man here who fell down this elevator shaft, please make a noise,” Simon says.

Silence.

“In a shocking turn of events, _no noise,”_ Alec says. “Put your arm in more, it won’t record anything out here if he _is_ in there.”

Simon moves his arm imperceptibly closer before immediately pulling it back. “No, nuh-uh, I do not like that. What if he grabs my hand while it’s in there?”

“...then you have proof of a ghost?” Alec asks. “Why is that a bad thing?”

“And if I say I feel something you aren’t going to believe me anyway,” Simon says.

“Sure I will,” Alec promises.

Simon hesitates, then puts his arm through the hole in the door to the middle of his forearm. Okay, he thinks, this is fine. This is-

Simon lets out a shrill noise and snaps his arm back within seconds.

“What?” Alec asks.

“It felt like something breathed on my hand,” Simon says, aware that his voice is shaking. In fact, now that he has his arm pulled back safe and sound against his chest, he’s vaguely aware that _all_ of him is shaking.

“You mean like the wind?” Alec dismisses.

“See, I told you. I told you you’d do this and not believe me,” Simon glares at him. “Not like the wind. _Like someone blew on my hand._ ”

Alec must decide to take pity on Simon and cut him a break before he has a meltdown because he drops the wind thing.

“Alright. The ghost of a homeless guy blew on your hand. So if he’s there we should ask him more questions, right?” Alec points out. Simon suddenly regrets wishing Alec would play along.

“Right,” Simon agrees, taking several deep breaths as he inches his way forward to put his arm through the window again, just not as far this time. His grip on the recorder is so tight his fingers start to go numb. Simon can’t bring himself to ask any more questions, still shaken up, so Alec takes the lead.

“So, if you’re the homeless guy who fell and died here… or were pushed… you must be pretty pissed, right? I mean, if someone pushed you, I bet you’d love to push someone back as revenge, wouldn’t you-”

Simon pulls his hand back immediately. “ _Are you trying to get us killed?”_ Simon whispers. “Alright, we’re done here. Goodbye, Mr. Homeless man. Please don’t follow us and push us.”

\---

The fourth floor is the one that Simon is the most excited for. There are reports of multiple full-bodied apparitions, a little boy who likes to play with a ball, nurses, and just shadowy figures in general.

“Why are all of these hallways so _long_?” Simon asks. They stay at one end this time, lights trained down the hall, motion censors set up at the other end where the most movement is reported. They’ve been at this for about 20 minutes now, asking questions, trying to get flashlights to turn on and off, but so far all they got were a few inconclusive readings that leave Simon on edge and Alec consistently denying proof of anything.

That’s when Simon sees the shadow.

“Oh my god did you see that,” Simon says, his voice barely above a whisper, his body rigid.

Alec’s silence is answer enough.

“Of course you didn’t,” Simon mutters. “There, at the end of the hallway, there was a shadow…”

Simon watches Alec look more intently down the hallway. “Let’s go down there, then. Might as well throw a little shadow hunting in with the ghost hunting.”

They do, but nothing seems out of place and the motion sensor they set up hasn’t been activated.

“I think your eyes are just playing tricks on you. We’ve been staring into the dark for half an hour now. Eventually, you’re going to start seeing things. Your mind _wants_ to see things.”

“I guess…” Simon agrees. “I’ll have to check the camera later, see if it picked anything up.”

“What if we throw the ball for the ghost kid?” Alec suggests. “That’s this hallway, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Simon acknowledges, reaching into his bag to pull out a blue ball. “Which doesn’t make me feel _better_ about the shadow, to be honest.”

This hallway, much like all the others, has walls full of graffiti and chipping paint. Mentally, Simon reminds himself to look into some nice, modern haunted hotels or something for his next video. Clearing his throat he tries to focus back on the task at hand.

“I brought a blue bouncy ball with me,” Simon says into the darkness of the hallway. “We heard you like to play ball. We’d love it if you played with us!”

Simon gives it a gentle toss down the center of the hallway, listening as it bounces until the echoes fall silent. Simon frowns. Those bounces didn’t sound right. They were irregular, and-

“Did that sound like it… stopped, then started again?” Alec asks, sounding reluctant to admit he heard anything strange at all.

“Yes!” Simon exclaims, finally glad that Alec heard something he did. “Like someone stopped it, then dropped it again!”

“You’re not going to roll it back to Simon?” Alec asks into the darkness, but there’s nothing except still air and silence. Alec sighs. “Guess we should go find it, right?”

They both go down the hallway, flashlights trained on the ground in front of them, occasionally sweeping off to the side to glance down a few side hallways and empty rooms until Simon’s light lands on the blue ball. It’s resting on the floor down a small side hallway to the left of the main one.

“Found it, over--- no way. Oh no.” Simon’s light moves up to some graffiti on the wall directly in front of where the ball stopped - graffiti that says ‘Simon’. “What are the chances… how did it even roll this way? What the- no. No, no, no.”

“Simon… the ball did roll to you. They know you,” Alec says, clearly taking joy from the existential crisis Simon’s having and making sure to film every moment of it. His eyes are wide, heartbeat racing as he paces back and forth along the small, graffitied side hallway.

“Shut up, Alec. Just… you know this is weird. First the shadow, now this? You have to admit this is weird,” Simon practically begs, needing Alec to take this seriously for at least a second because he’s freaking the fuck out right now.

“You know you have to do it again, for comparison,” Alec says, and Simon wants to snap that of course he does, he’s the one who told Alec that if something strange happens you have to try and repeat it to see if it has a reasonable explanation. Like maybe there’s a dip in the floor and the ball always goes this way. Simon _really_ hopes there’s a dip in the floor.

“Right. Yeah, okay,” Simon says, picking up the ball and heading back to the start of the hallway again. Simon repeats the action, careful to stand in the same place and throw it with the same force.

Instead of filming down the hallway, Alec’s camera is trained on him. “I’ve never seen anyone look so upset to throw a ball before,” Alec says, laughing lightly.

“Yeah, well, it isn’t your name the ball stopped at,” Simon points out.

“Maybe it will be this time!” Alec offers, but when they find the ball again it’s in the dead center of the main hallway.

“See, that’s where it should’ve landed the first time,” Simon insists.

“So you think it was pushed the other way last time?” Alec asks.

“Don’t you? First the shadow, then the ball moving, on the floor people repeatedly see a kid playing with a ball?” Simon can’t believe Alec is _still_ denying this.

Alec shrugs. “I’m going to need a little more than some air in a drafty elevator shaft and a ball that rolled weird to believe ghosts are following us.”

Well, Simon thinks with another sigh, at least he’s honest.

They move on to one of the rooms a nurse is often seen in, each taking a chair in the center and putting motion sensors by the two doors into the room.

Simon asks a few standard questions, but he can’t keep his focus. His flashlight flits around the room unsteadily.

“You don’t like this room, do you?” Alec asks. For once he doesn’t sound like he’s making fun of Simon, but genuinely curious.

“No,” Simon admits. “I feel… off, in here. It’s unsettling. I’m not getting any responses, why don’t you try?”

“Alright,” Alec agrees. “Is there anyone in here with us? Or anyone nearby who would like to join us? We-”

“Alec,” Simon says, pointing behind where Alec’s sitting and Alec turns to see the light of the sensor going off.

“Looks like we got ourselves a ghost!” Alec exclaims. “Finally. Okay, uh, if you’re in the room with us, can you go to the other door and set off that sensor?”

Simon, surprised to find Alec taking charge while he freezes in his seat, holds his breath. The other sensor flickers, just barely, but it does.

“Thank you,” Alec says. “We have this… recorder if there’s anything you want to say. Maybe to the people you tried to save? Or to us? Do you like us here? Because we’re spending the night, so if you don’t like that, now’s the time to tell us to go.”

Alec seems properly energized by the sudden activity and Simon’s equal parts glad to see him finally getting a little more into it, and slightly horrified by the way he seems determined to turn any spirits in this building against them.

Unfortunately, the lights don’t go off again after that, and they don’t hear anything in the room.

“I wasn’t going to use the spirit box, but… now I kind of want to,” Simon admits.

“Spirit box?” Alec asks. “Is this like Ghostbusters where you try and trap the ghost in a box?”

“What? No,” Simon says, bringing out the small electronic device. “It searches through any nearby radio frequencies really fast, and spirits can tap into the white noise to form words for us, like a name, or to answer questions.”

“How scientifically accurate is this?” Alec asks skeptically.

“Debatable,” Simon says. “But I’ve gotten some cool results from it before, so… let’s give it a try. Oh, fair warning, it’s really loud.”

Simon turns the spirit box on and Alec visibly flinches back, covering both ears at the sudden noise in the otherwise silent room.

“You weren’t kidding,” Alec says after his ears adjust a bit to the loud static and shifting noises from the frequency changes, and he brings his hands back down.

“Alright. I’ll ask again - if you’re in here with us, and have anything you want to say, you can… use this box, I guess, to talk to us. Sorry, it seems a little gimmicky, but you weren’t talking before, so-”

“It isn’t a gimmick,” Simon cuts in, getting himself back in control enough to cut off Alec before he can antagonize the spirit further. “Can you tell us your name?”

The spirit box continues to make white noise until there’s a break, and he hears, very clearly, the word “spaghetti”.

They’re both silent for a moment, processing the word.

Then Alec bursts into laughter. “Maybe it’s hungry,” he says, barely managing the words between bursts of laughter.

Simon turns the box off. “Alright, let’s just move on.”

“Are you sure? We haven’t heard from Lasagna or Pizza yet,” Alec says.

Simon does his best to ignore him.

\---

Upon reaching the balcony-esque landing of the roof attached to room 502, Simon leans over the ledge, just the tiniest bit to look down.

“Careful,” Alec says from behind him. “Wouldn’t want the homeless guy and his dog to push you now.”

Simon swears he feels a cold wisp of air at the nape of his neck that makes the hairs there stand on edge, but he refuses to admit that out loud.

“Ha-ha,” Simon says instead, though he does move back quickly. They have sleeping bags to set up to spend the rest of the night in the room behind them. Ms. Loss told them earlier that strange deaths occurred more than once in this room, and that others who stayed in it heard kids giggling and had things hit their tents throughout the night. The fact that they only have sleeping bags doesn’t make Simon feel _great_ , but, as always, Alec hardly seems bothered.

“Goodnight, Spaghetti,” Alec calls into the dark once their flashlights are off.

At least he’s enjoying himself now, Simon thinks, which is a step up from the start of this whole thing. Simon doesn’t believe that Alec hates him half as much as he pretends to…

At least, that’s what Simon thinks until he wakes up an hour later to the feeling of something gently prodding his face. Only someone who hates you would wake you up in the middle of the night in a haunted hospital by _touching you_. Simon tries not to give him the satisfaction of reacting, attempting to pretend he’s still asleep, but after it happens a few more times Simon finally rolls over to tell him to stop.

“Seriously, dude, just-” Simon starts, except Alec isn’t anywhere near him. In fact, he’s several feet away, arms inside his sleeping bag, completely asleep.

 _Now_ Simon reacts, grabbing the flashlight next to him and spinning wildly in a circle, trying to catch sight of something, _anything_ , that would explain what he just felt.

“What are you doing?” Alec grumbles, woken up by the sudden light that Simon accidentally shined in Alec’s face a few times during his repeated scans of the room.

“Something was touching my face. I thought it was you until I looked over and you were completely asleep. There’s nothing up here I can see, but I swear to God, something touched my face.”

“Go back to bed, Simon,” Alec mumbles, rolling over.

Simon could laugh at the suggestion, his heartbeat racing so fast he knows it’ll take at least an hour to calm down enough to consider sleeping again, not that Simon intends on even considering it.

Between the ghost touches and the fact that Alec’s snores fill the room within minutes, Simon knows he’s in for a long night.

\---

Simon has never been more relieved to see the first rays of sunlight creep in through the window and immediately shakes Alec awake.

“We made it. We’re done. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Alec takes in the bags under Simon’s eyes. “...did you ever fall back asleep?”

“What do you think?” Simon replies with a yawn. “Also, you could’ve warned me that you snore.”

“I do not snore,” Alec insists.

“The video I set up in case that ghost came back says otherwise,” Simon smirks, and Alec just glares.

It doesn’t take long to gather the few things they have with them, but Simon keeps his camera out for the walk back down to his van.

“Last chance, ghosts! Any last words? This is your moment!” Simon calls into the halls, which are a lot less horrifying in the daylight.

“Last chance to shove Simon down the stairs, you wimps!” Alec adds, and Simon turns to level him with a glare that loses a lot of its fire when his eyes nearly close from exhaustion instead of narrowing menacingly.

“Simon Lewis 1, haunted hospital ghosts, 0!” Simon calls out triumphantly the moment he hits that final stair.

“So, Alec, before we leave, do you think this place is haunted?” Simon asks, shifting the camera over to Alec.

“No,” Alec says, and Simon’s face only falls for a second before he shifts the camera back to himself.

“Well, I think it is,” Simon says. “I guess our viewers will just have to make up their own minds.”

After one last sweep of the outside of the building, Simon shuts the camera off, and his entire body seems to relax.

“Congratulations, you survived!” Simon says, grinning at Alec. “I might have you do a few voice-over things, maybe a bit of commentary, if you don’t mind. But other than that, it’s just me and my editing now.”

“Cool,” Alec says, taking his bag and handing it back to Simon to put away in the van.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Simon tells him. “I know you were doing it for Jace, not for me, but I still appreciate it.”

“It ended up not being so bad,” Alec admits. “And I know I give you a hard time, but I don’t hate you. Anyone as good for Jace as you are is alright in my book.”

Simon beams. “Really?”

“Don’t tell Jace I said that, though. Then I won’t get two weeks of dishes out of him the next time you need a stand-in,” Alec says.

Simon only smiles wider at that. “Next time?!”

Alec seems to realize his mistake a moment too late. Simon takes the win and decides not to press his luck by pushing the subject.

“For now, how about breakfast on me? I’m starving,” Simon offers. After being stuck with him all night Simon isn’t sure Alec will agree. He’s pleasantly surprised to see Alec already nodding. “Taki’s? They have surprisingly good coffee.”

“Sure,” Alec agrees. “Think your spirit box can tell me if I should have pancakes or waffles? It’s a bit early for spaghetti…”

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com) and also on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/By_The_Angell)! <3 )


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